Killing Abortion Doctors is OKAY???? What?

Just this morning, I read on msn.com that alleged Christian Scott Roeder, was found guilty of first-degree murder, in the killing of a prominent abortion doctor from Kansas. Roeder’s reason for killing the doctor is that he felt it was his job to protect the unborn children, which Tiller (the doctor) would have potentially killed during the abortion process.

Follow me for a second, will you, as I try to reason through this can of worms:

First, one is hard-pressed to judge Roeder guilty of being a Christian. This is so for several reasons. Jesus never would have advocated killing some doctor, who in the course of their profession, took the lives of babies. That may seem to some as if I am cowering behind the laws of the land, but in actuality, I stand behind the principles found throughout Scripture. Obviously Roeder and those who think as he does would vehemently disagree.

The idea that a Christian supposedly has not only the right, but the responsibility to take the life of another individual whom they deem worthy of death is patently ridiculous and tosses the entirety of God’s Word to the wind. Deuteronomy 32:35 tells us bluntly that vengeance belongs to the Lord. He is the one who will repay. It is one thing to protect yourself or your family from attack, by keeping someone at bay who is attempting to break into your home, while you wait for the authorities to arrive. It is one thing to defend yourself against a mugger, a rapist, or even someone who is trying to assault you physically, which may result in your death. It is quite another thing altogether to deliberately move against someone who has absolutely no clue that you are out there, training a scope on the temple of their head. To go up to someone who is completely and unexpectently unaware of your process, put a gun to their temple and pull the trigger is murder and there is no way around that!

The idea that Scott Roeder or anyone else believes it is their God-given right to kill abortion doctors is absurd. This “responsibility” was never given to the hands of people by God. The only thing God did was tell Noah that capital punishment was to be assessed in those situations when one human being came against another human being with the sole intent to kill that person. In that case, the offending party should be tried and if found guilty, should be put to death. The reason for this was due to the fact that humanity was made in God’s image. To deliberately kill another individual was to literally strike out at God Himself. Read about it in Genesis 9 onward. God is clear. Premeditated murder is punished by death.

The most asinine thing Roeder said in court was that murder (of unborn children) is wrong and he felt compelled to kill Tiller because he believed it was the will of his heavenly Father (my paraphrase). Apparently, Roeder either did not hear himself or, he views his act of murder as self-defense. Either way, he is wrong, absolutely wrong. So, he goes to prison for the likelihood of at least 50 years to life, and as far as he is concerned, he is innocent, and goes to prison because he is being persecuted for his faith.

Let me say this in no uncertain terms: what Scott Roeder did was reprehensible. It was not even close to being something an authentic Christian would do. Scott Roeder deserves to be put to death for the crime of premeditated murder.

By now, some of you may be asking, Well, what about Dr. Tiller? He killed babies every day?! How can he be let off the hook? A couple of things come into play here. First of all, what he did – as horrible as it is (and if you have ever looked into how an abortion is performed, I would suggest doing just that!) – Tiller was protected under the laws of the land, where he practiced medicine. Does this mean that what he did was right? Not by my understanding of God’s law. Tiller himself was guilty multiple times each day of murdering one innocent baby after another, and all of it for profit. Tiller was a murderer. Unfortunately, because of the ridiculous laws in America, he was not guilty under the man-made system of law, therefore he had committed no crime in the land. If Tiller had committed crime, then it is up to the system in place to determine his guilt, not some rogue individual who calls himself a Christian and believes that what he is doing, he is doing because the heavenly Father wants him to do it.

Ultimately, Tiller will have his day in the final court, a court which has the final say and metes out an irrevocable sentence, and there are no appeals. Roeder will also have his day in the same court, and what he hears from God will undoutedbly surprise him, a great deal.

Christians do not have the right to take life for the sake of taking life, no matter how altruistic their motives appear to be. We have the right to defend ourselves and our families. We have the right to not place ourselves in situations, which may result in some type of harm coming to us (don’t walk down dark alleys in the middle of the city at night, because it’s a shortcut, or something similiar!). We do not have the right to pretend that we are God, and that we decide who physically lives and who physically dies.

Capital punishment is one thing, and it was ordained by God in Genesis 9 (and never rescinded, not even by Jesus). It was to be carefully meted out and only on those who were found completely guilty of their crime. For those who accidentally killed someone, there were ten cities of refuge that God also ordained. If the accused could get to one of these cities, he would present his case to the elders at the city gate. If they were convinced that what he had done was accidental, and not premeditated, he would be allowed into the city. There he would have to live and if he came out, he was fair game to the relatives of the one who was slain. He would forfeit his protection. He would ultimately be able to leave only after the High Priest had died and a new one was installed. That transition annulled debts such as this.

God is a God of order. He is a God of patience. He does not want anyone to die without a saving knowledge of who He is and what He has accomplished through Jesus Christ, God the Son. Dr. Tiller lost any further chances to come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and God. Yes, he attended church, but attending church is no guarantee at all of authentic salvation. It is doubtful that anyone who practices third trimester abortions would have a conscience that would lie mute, if they were a true Christian. Any abortion is terrible, but third trimester abortions are despicable. The baby is almost full term. It cannot be denied that it looks and acts like a fullterm baby, a human being. It is not a blob of fetal tissue. Imagine, reaching into the mother’s uterus, and pulling the baby apart (literally), or injecting it with some strong saline solution (which burns it to death), or pulling it out of the mother virtually intact, only to place it on a nearby table as if it is an amputated limb, allowing it to die. There is no way on earth that a doctor who believes him/herself to be a Christian could be part of such a ghastly operation as this, without feeling the pangs of guilt and remorse. This is the taking of innocent lives and it is not allowed under God’s Law. Because it is allowed under the law of the land only means that Christians must abide by that law and go through the system to change the law. Barring that, they may not resort to their own law, which is not a law at all, but simply lawlessness.

The reason God says vengeance is HIS, and not OURS, is because He alone judges rightly. No one else does. No one. Not you, not me – no one. We must turn all things over to Him, rejecting our “right” for revenge. We ourselves are not innocent by any stretch. In fact, Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 “Whereas by one man, sin entered the world and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Sin is sin. It does not matter to God whether I lie, I steal, I lust, or I am so angry with someone, I would like to see them dead. As far as God is concerned, sin is sin and it is all punishable and will be punished by God and God alone. We cannot punish for committed sins. We can only punish for broken laws, which we call crimes.

By shooting that doctor in Kansas, Scott Roeder believed himself to be above the law. He believed that Tiller’s sin was greater than his own, and he believes that God fully supports his actions. The truth of the matter is that it only takes one sin to break God’s Law and it does not even matter which sin it is. Human beings have a tendency to see themselves as “good” compared to “the other guy” because that other guy is a murderer. We’ve never murdered. That other guy is a thief. We’ve never stolen. That other guy is an adulterer. We’ve never committed adultery. WRONG. If we have ever told a lie, we are LIARS. If we have ever taken anything without paying for it (even from work, “I’ll just take this pen. This place can afford a ton of pens!”), we are THIEVES. If we have ever looked at another individual and lusted after them in our heart, Jesus said we are ADULTERERS.

Scott Roeder is no better and no worse than Dr. Tiller. In fact, he has committed the same crime as he accused Tiller of committing. There are too many whackos in society today, calling themselves Christian, but acting like devils. I believe Roeder is one of them. I also believe “his heavenly father” is none other than the devil himself. Only God knows Roeder’s mind and only God can judge the situation perfectly and righteously. May He judge both Tiller and Roeder accoring to His mercy as well as His justice.